Monsters in Meetings – Part 2, Multiple Conversations

| Total Words: 318

Side conversations ruin meetings by destroying focus and fragmenting participation.

Here’s how to bring your meeting back on track when a side conversation starts.

Approach 1: Ask for cooperation

Start by asking everyone to cooperate. Look at the middle of the group (instead of at the people talking) and say:

“Excuse me (pause to gain everyone’s attention). I know all of your ideas are important. So, please let’s have one speaker at a time.”

“Excuse me. I’m having difficulty hearing what [contributing participant] is saying.”

“There seems to be a great deal of interest for this issue. Could we have just one speaker at a time?”

These statements diplomatically acknowledge that a side conversation is occurring without naming the participants or putting them on the spot. Hostile statements, such as: “Hey you! Stop that!” will create hard feelings that undermine your effectiveness as a leader.

Approach 2: Change the process

If side conversations continue, change the rules to make cooperation more convenient. For example, you could use a speaking...

To view and download this full PLR article, you must be logged in. Registration is completely free. Once you create your account, you will be able to browse, search & downlod from our PLR articles database of over "1,57,897+" on 1,000's of niches and 200+ categories without paying a penny. Click here to signup...

** PLR to VIDEO: Create Awesome Videos From PLR Articles... FAST!...